North Korea has warned its citizens that until the country's border with China is reopened in 2025, they should prepare to consume less food. North Koreans are already suffering from food shortages, but leaders have advised civilians to tighten their belts for at least another three years.

People, on the other hand, have already expressed concern that shortages would make it impossible to see themselves through the winter, much alone several years.

As a preventive step against the transmission of coronavirus, North Korea closed its border with China in January 2020. However, the change had a significant impact on the economy, with prices of basic products skyrocketing as demand outstripped supply.

North Korea plans to reopen border with China

People have been cautioned that the chances of reopening the border with China before 2025 are slim, according to a resident of the city of Sinuiju who requested to remain anonymous.

Despite the challenges that the North Korean people are now through, Kim Jong Un has continued to promote the concept of self-reliance this year. In July, the Central Committee reaffirmed this message by advising the populace to begin raising their own food in preparation for crop shortages, according to RFA.

However, with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization forecasting that North Korea would be short 860,000 tons of food this year, the Sinuiju resident believes that people's scorn for the country is rising.

According to a second source, the North Korean authorities are seeking to portray the food shortages as the outcome of its successful COVID-19 policy.

Per Daily Mail, the administration has blamed external forces for the country's food shortages, citing sanctions, natural catastrophes, and the worldwide coronavirus pandemic as examples.

North Korea was hit by heavy floods last year, destroying crucial harvests and displacing hundreds of families. Droughts and subsequent flooding have also harmed crops this year.

Heavy rains in northeastern North Korea in August wrecked or flooded 1,170 homes, forcing 5,000 people to flee to safety, according to North Korean official television.

Hundreds of hectares of farmland were washed away in South Hamgyong Province, and several bridges were wrecked. Houses submerged up to their red-brick roofs, a severed bridge over filthy water, and a swollen river were all shown in the footage.

Read Also: Russia Urges Countries Bordering Afghanistan To Avoid US, NATO Forces Presence on Their Territory

North Korea's tense food crisis worsens economic issue

Summer rains in North Korea frequently inflict severe damage to the country's agricultural and other sectors, owing to the impoverished country's inadequate drainage, deforestation, and crumbling infrastructure.

Kim Jong Un has admitted a "tense" food situation that might worsen if all of the crops fail, worsening economic issues already exacerbated by severe self-imposed border and transit restrictions that have reduced commerce to a crawl.

Because North Korea is a hilly country, good farming land is scarce, and many farmers lack access to machinery like tractors, combine harvesters, and threshers. As a result, it is estimated that almost a third of North Korea's population is fed by international goods and aid.

Despite these imports, a 2017 UN survey found that two-fifths of the population is hungry, meaning they lack access to the daily calories required to maintain a healthy weight. A third of North Korean children are believed to be stunted, which means they did not receive enough calories during their early years.

Kim Jong Un is one of the few international leaders who is both highly observed and cloaked in mystery. Since taking control in 2011, the tyrant, who is said to be in his late 30s, has been surrounded by political and diplomatic intrigue.

He has been said to be in ill health on several occasions. His condition and daily whereabouts are so hazy that when he went missing for several weeks in 2020, there was widespread suspicion that he had died until he reappeared in public.

While Kim has so far debunked the claims, recent events imply that behind closed doors, North Korea is preparing for the day when Kim Jong Un is indeed gone, as per Business Insider via MSN.

Related Article: North Korea Launches Short-Range Missile Into The Sea, Tells UN It Has The Right To Test Weapons

@YouTube